Gripped by fear of failure

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-18 14:26

People affected by general anxiety have exaggerated fears of ordinary things. That applies to work-related and health worries to basic questions about possessions, such as a car and how much longer it can last, says Mauler. These disorders arise particularly in people who suddenly have more responsibility, when they start their first job, for example, or after having their first child.

But no matter what the basis of an illness is, fear is actually a natural driving force, says Professor Borwin Bandelow of the psychiatric clinic at the university of Goettingen. People with anxiety disorders, however, massively overestimate their fears.

"Some firmly believe they will mess up an examination that they already have mastered many times," Bandelow says. If the anxiety becomes so strong that it affects daily life, a doctor should be consulted.

Alarm bells should go off when people with anxiety symptoms no longer do the things they actually enjoy doing, says Stroehle. People can get help in clinics and from resident psychologists and psychotherapists. There they receive medication or psychotherapy. In most cases this is a cognitive behavioral therapy in which it is especially important to address avoidance behavior, possibly through confrontation exercises.

The duration of psychotherapy varies. Some patients only have to be helped through a difficult period in their life. Others work with their therapist for a year or longer. If the anxiety is not advanced, it also helps to talk to friends and ask how they handle their anxieties, says Mauler.

"The social network can provide good support right at the start."

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